While Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival wasn’t the Animal Crossing reveal most Wii U fans wanted, we could be in for a surprise when the next true Animal Crossing game debuts on either the Wii U or the Nintendo NX. Of course there’s no confirmation about that game, but in a recent interview with GameRant, the game’s lead Aya Kyogoku spoke about the possibility of other iconic Nintendo characters appearing in the series.

Obviously we don’t know what the next Animal Crossing is going to look like, but if the addition of other IPs in the next Animal Crossing is going to really excite both fans of Animal Crossing and fans of those other IPs even more then that’s something we’d really like to consider and take into account.

While there have always been Nintendo-themed items in the Animal Crossing series, actual characters visiting the players town and interacting with them has never been a series staple. It’s interesting to thing about, but Kyogoku assures fans that their primary concern with the next entry into the Animal Crossing series is making sure the game does something innovative, rather than derivative.

But at the same time, we really wanted to make sure that the gameplay we put into the next Animal Crossing is fun and new. I wouldn’t want to add a feature where people thought it was about time or expected the next iteration would have. So instead of that, I’d like to have fun and good surprises in the gameplay.

What do you think about the possibility of Mario or Link showing up as a village visitor in the next Animal Crossing game? Would you be okay with that or would you prefer the village visitors to remain within the universe of Animal Crossing itself?